Manipulation of chili plant architecture to enhance productivity and pests control

Abstract

Abstract Pruning of chili pepper caused changes in the plant architecture affecting the management practices, both resulted in greater fruit production and controlled pest population. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effects of different pruning systems on yield and pests abundance in chili pepper (cv. Mega Top F1). The experiment was conducted in a farmer’s field at Banyuresmi District, Garut, West Java (850 m asl) from June, 2018 to January, 2019. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. The treatments consists of five pruning treatments including a control where no plants were pruned. The results showed that different type of pruning affected growth, yield and pests abudance on chili. Treatments with two branches remaining and shoot pruning/pinching in the nursery significantly affected the plant growth with maximum yield (16.47 tonha−1). Pruning significantly affected fruit yield from 19.87 - 30.92% and reduced the population of several pests, such as T. parvispinus, B. tabaci and S. litura up to 13.33 – 88.01%. Pruning induced the plants to have wider architecture and this could be practiced to increase the quality yield of chili pepper.